Microsoft held a big press briefing in London today. Entitled 'Play, Watch, Connect' the event saw a grab-bag of announcements including a content deal with NBC Universal to supply movies for the Xbox Live video-on-demand service. UK and Ireland customers will have access to 30 of the studio's films from today with more following on a regular basis.

As for games, the emphasis fell very much on family stuff. There was more on the Wallace and Gromit XBLA game, plus new content for Lips, including Coldplay tracks – including The Scientist, Speed of Sound and In My Place – and a 'broader range of content' coming early March, including an online leaderboard. There were details of the Prince of Persia DLC, which includes new levels and maps. We'll let you know more later.

Attendees also got a glimpse at the Xbox Live Primetime channel – an online multiplayer quiz system, originally conceived as part of the whole New Xbox Experience makeover, which aims to become the de facto Saturday night entertainment choice for families everywhere. TV tie-in 1 vs 100, revealed at CES earlier this year, will be the first game to support the concept.

The key thing, though, was the movie deal, adding another major studio to the roster, which already includes Paramount, MGM and Warner. Clearly, Microsoft is viewing its content-on-demand service as a key way to compete with Wii for the family market. I spoke to Microsoft's regional director of entertainment Neil Thompson who told me, "Every console manufacturer is going to need to be providing this sort of entertainment hub, if they're going to be successful with consumers in the long term. This has always been our strategy – we've always said that it's the software and services element of what we can deliver to consumers that's really going to differentiate us."

I'm not sure how much of an impact a library of just 30 films will have against the might of WiiFit, but as Xbox 360 is the only console offering a service like this in Europe you can see what they're getting at. Anyway, here's that line-up of Universal flicks in full...

Baby Mama The FrightenersThe Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon EmperorWanted The GameForgetting Sarah Marshall How HighThe Incredible Hulk ('08) The JerkWelcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Liar, LiarYou, Me and Dupree The Mummy ReturnsThe Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior National Lampoon's Animal HouseBilly MadisonOut of Sight ('98)Blues Brothers Reservation RoadBourne Supremacy Scarface ('83)Carlito's WayScorpion KingCheech and Chong's Next Movie Shaun of the DeadChild's Play 3 Village of the DamnedFast and the Furious WaterworldFear and Loathing in Las Vegas